SolarKindle e-reader cover shines on

As Liam Gallagher once claimed; You can wait for a lifetime to spend your days in the sunshine. But by the time you that, your Kindle would've run out of juice. Luckily for you, SolarFocus Technology has unleashed the SolarKindle over in Vegas at CES - the world’s first solar powered e-reader cover.

You're probably wondering just why the heck you'd need a charging case for a device that has a ridiculously long battery life anyway but the SolarKindle kind of makes mains charging irrelevant. Provided that you live in a sunny location that is.

Because, once you've given the SolarKindle a USB charge up, it will increase your Kindle's lifespan to around three months. And for every day it gets to soak up the sun's rays, should they be shining, you'll get three day's reading time. In theory then, you could take the SolarKindle on a long trip abroad and never have to plug it in to charge.

The case, which is made of premium leather, also packs a mini LED light for night-time reading; a light that is powered by the integrated reserve battery and doesn't use any of your Kindle's power, for up to 50 hours of use.

"For the past six years, SolarFocus has been dedicated to developing the most technologically advanced portable solar powered solutions for consumers," said Dick Lu, EVP at SolarFocus. "We will continuously improve the price / performance ratio of our solar powered solutions on even more consumer electronic products to reduce carbon emissions."

Talking of price, the SolarKindle will hit US shops on 15 January, priced at $79.99. No word on a UK release as of yet and also no word on whether Amazon has okayed the use of the word Kindle in the name....